


Interlude

by LoriLee (cowgirl65)



Category: The Big Valley
Genre: Challenge Response, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-02
Updated: 2010-02-02
Packaged: 2017-11-23 10:08:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/620942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cowgirl65/pseuds/LoriLee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short interlude with the Barkley siblings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Interlude

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own the Big Valley and don't make any money from this.
> 
>  
> 
> THE CHALLENGE
> 
> Write a one-chapter story by Valentine’s Day. There’s no word count … it may be as long or as short as you want it to be. You must use the word "valentine" in your story … but it doesn’t have to be a Valentine’s Day story (unless you want it to be). AND, you must use at least SIX (or more if you prefer) of the words/phrases in the list below. 
> 
> Australia  
> Elephant  
> Fainting couch  
> Horse whiskers! (the exclamation mark is part of it)  
> Mark Twain  
> Neptune (the planet)  
> Purple  
> River steam boat  
> Spinach pie  
> Zealous 
> 
> The rules:  
> 1) One chapter  
> 2) As long or as short as you want it to be  
> 3) Your story must include the word "valentine" (but doesn’t HAVE to be a Valentine’s Day story)  
> 4) You must use at least six (or more is you prefer) of the words/phrases listed above  
> 5) Post your story any time between now and Valentine’s Day

“Heath, who do you know in New Port, Quebec?”

Heath looked up from the rifle he was cleaning as Audra walked into the gunroom carrying a letter. “Know lots of people from lots of places, sis.”

Audra handed him the letter. Heath inspected the handwriting on the front and a lopsided grin spread across his lips. He opened it and took out the folded sheets of paper. “Boy howdy, it’s a letter from Tiny!” he exclaimed. “I was wondering what he’d been up to.”

“Tiny? Why is he called that?” Audra asked, looking over Heath’s shoulder. “Is he very short?”

“Nope, his full name’s Valentine, Valentine Christie, but folks just call him Tiny. The two of us saw the elephant and heard the owl more’n a few times, I can tell you.” Heath wandered over to the new fainting couch their mother had recently purchased and sat down to read his letter.

“Australia?! Nick, are you out of your mind?!”

“And what’s wrong with that?” Nick demanded of his older brother as they entered the room. “The price he’s offering is more than generous and he’s gonna pay all the shipping costs! I tell you, it’s a deal made in heaven!”

Jarrod pressed his hand to his forehead as if trying to ward off a headache. “But Australia, Nick? Could you find somewhere closer to sell horses? Canada, perhaps? Or Neptune?”

“If you want to sell to Canada, maybe Tiny could use some of those new draft horses we’ve been breeding,” Heath suggested, looking up from his letter. “Says here he’s got himself quite the farm.”

Jarrod and Nick exchanged a glance that seemed to ask, ‘Do we really want to know?’ Nick shrugged and leaned over the raised end of the couch. “I take it this Tiny’s a friend of yours?”

“Yep.”

Nick waited expectantly for Heath to elaborate, but the blond just continued reading his letter. Nick gave a long-suffering sigh and went to pour himself a drink. “Anyone else?” he offered.

Jarrod was behind the desk, shifting through some papers. “I’ll get myself something in a minute.”

Heath mutely shook his head and kept reading.

Nick took his drink to a nearby chair and settled into it, putting his booted feet on the new upholstery. “Jarrod,” he continued, a dog with a bone once he had an idea in his head, “he’s willing to pay five thousand dollars for three of our best cutting horse mares. That’s over fifteen hundred a horse.”

Jarrod walked over, lifted Nick’s feet and droped them to the floor with a thud. “Better not let Mother catch you with your feet up there, brother Nick,” he advised with a grin. “Don’t forget, that’s how the settee was ruined and how we got stuck with this purple monstrosity.”

“At least remember to take off your spurs before setting your feet on the furniture,” Heath recommended with a grin of his own. “Might end up with a pink arm chair next. With yellow flowers.”

The brothers shared a laugh and even Nick had to chuckle.

“I think it’s lovely,” Audra spoke up to defend their mother’s choice of furniture. “Why, I saw almost an exact replica of this couch in Godey’s Ladies Book just last month.”

Nick rolled his eyes. “I bow to your superior knowledge of these things, Audra. If it was in Godey’s Ladies Book, it must be the horse’s whiskers.”

“Horse whiskers?” his siblings asked in unison, not sure if they’d heard correctly. 

“Yeah, y’know,” Nick said, waving a hand expansively. “The cat’s meow, the horse’s whiskers, same thing.”

Jarrod opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it and just handed Nick the paper he’d brought over from the desk. “Here, Nick, this is a copy of the contract from when we sold those horses and had to ship them to Newman in Montana. If you’re so zealous to sell horses overseas, we can probably modify this to suit.”

“How does someone from Australia come to want our horses anyway?” Audra wondered.

“You remember Duke’s nephew?” At Audra’s nod, Nick went on. “Seems he decided to try his luck down there. Got himself a little spread and nothing but Barkley horses will do. Won himself a few hands of poker on the ship over and now he can afford them, too.”

“Hey, Jarrod, ever thought about getting into the maple syrup business?” Heath said out of the blue.

“Well, we’re already in the international livestock market.” Jarrod leaned against the side table and hooked his fingers in his pockets, a twinkle in his blue eyes. “Why do you ask, Heath?”

Heath folded up his letter and tucked it back into the envelope. “Seems as thought the maple sugar run up in Quebec was a long one this year with the weather being what it was. Not much market for it up north, Tiny was wondering if I knew anyone who could help him start selling it down here.”

“Sounds interesting,” Jarrod replied thoughtfully. “I’ll look into it and get back to you.”

All heads turned as Silas came to the door. “Lunch is on the table,” he announced.

“Great!” Nick bounded to his feet. “What are we having, Silas? I’m starved!”

“Spinach pie, Mr. Nick,” Silas informed him.

“Spinach pie?!” Nick roared. “What kind of lunch is that?! Silas, I want a steak, three inches thick, and then I want…” Nick’s tirade echoed throughout the house as they all headed into the dining room.

**Author's Note:**

> Valentine “Tiny” Christie was a real person and would have only been a few years older than Heath. He did live in Quebec and married Martha Bell in 1872, the daughter of M.R. Barkley.


End file.
